Anurag Basu’s romantic-drama, Metro…In Dino released on Netflix on August 29. The film stars Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan and Saswata Chatterjee.
The film tells parallel stories of bittersweet relationships set in the hustle and bustle of metropolitan cities exploring the different shades of love and heartbreak. It is a spiritual sequel to Anurag’s Life…In a Metro (2009). Speaking about telling stories featuring multiple characters, Anurag earlier told CE in an interview, “I think if we look into our lives, we will realise that everything that happens is somehow connected with the lives of our family members and our friends. Our lives are a result of the chaotic domino effect of the stories of other people. It’s just that we have to be creative to showcase that on the big screen. The earlier Metro took some time, but Metro…In Dino was relatively easier to write.”
He also said that he was influenced by old Bollywood songs while making his film into a musical. “Our performing arts are rooted in singing and narrating stories, be it nautanki or pandwani theatre, so it comes from there and not from the West. Even our old songs were like conversations between people, like ‘accha toh hum chalte hain’ (Ok, I should get going) ‘fir kab miloge?’ (‘When will we meet again?’). In fact, my 2017 film Jagga Jasoos was more influenced by Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980) than any Western musical.”
Metro…In Dino did a box office collection of just over Rs 52.1 crore when it released in theatres on July 4.
CE’s review of the film read, “Anurag Basu’s relationship-drama Metro…In Dino feels like somebody has played an old, nostalgic tune on the radio. It’s a true-blue musical where every character will sing out their love and lows and even their worries and woes. It feels like getting into a time capsule, traversing the lengths and breadths of modern life and relationships. It somehow manages to be both classic and contemporary, both mystical and modern. Like a carousel in the middle of a tech park.”
